Gigabyte AERO 15W-CF1 WIFI drops when I move the laptop

I have had this machine a couple of years now which I use mainly for work. The WIFI connection doesn't seem very stable .

1. Doesn't auto connect ever to the home wifi ( which hasn't changed ). So I often have turn the wifi adaptor on and off to get a connection
2. If I move the laptop say in a MS Teams session the connection is dropped, even If I move closer to the hotspot - go figure

I have created a SmartUpdate status screen dump for review but I simply can't work out how I upload media on here. Are thre " must have updates" I need to be aware of?


As an aside, I am looking to replace this laptop by the end of the year but I don't want a noisy, poor battery life, "global warming" laptop albeit with a supper UHD OLED screen! So will certainly look at the competition to see how this compares.

 

Your best bet would to buy an intel 9260 wifi nic and replace whats inside. Dont bother with anything else better or worse. If intel updater says you are on latest and issue is still around, then the nic needs to be changed. Dont use smartupdate use intel website for the latest.

 

@Kittys

Thanks for the advice. I will do that.

In the longer term, have you any thoughts on a decent high spec i7 32 GB laptop for a humble ( non gamer) IT pro?

 

Honestly anything Clevo or Dell that fits your budget when the time comes. Asus is going to be a hard skip since they are doing half soldered ram shenanigans and other brands are too gamery or do not feel like they would hold up longterm if you are running around with it.

If its going to be a workhorse then the new XPS 15 is super hard to beat.The Surface Book 3 though also is really good in that field too.

Works been issuing XPS and Surface Books since they switched away from Lenovo and things have been pretty smooth. Dont miss the Lenovo keyboards all that much.

 

@Kittys

intel 9260 now orded - did turn the laptop upside down do check there is wasn't a small panel that covered the card. Sandly not, all the screws need to come out


Thanks for your candour and I believe you are on the money.

The suface Book 3 is getting a lot of love from the MS community since it was demoed during the recent MS Build conference by Scott Hanselman.

The 15 XPS looks stunning btw and was pondering either the Intel Gen 9 or 10 range.

Interestingly, you haven't commented on the any of the newer Gigabytes . TBH, given the extra money I spent on this Areo 15X , I don't think it performs any better than the P35W it replaced. Yes the screen and keyboard are a joy. However, It is the battery that lets it down. All day battery life assumes you don't switch it on! Not getting 32 GB for RAM from the start was a mistake as it soon fills up with various Edge Chrome profiles or VSCode instances.

Might be worth starting a new thread on this subject, to cover the key features of decent IT Pro: portable , powerful and doesn't sound like a jumbo jet on take off ( take note PCSpecialist) . Also what are the known issues. - remember the early Dells with unsecure power connectors.

 

It probably would be good idea to start thread in the buying section lol. I would go 10th gen for the XPS maybe save money and go non-touch but its handy to have with the 4K workspace and Surface Book 3 is the way to go with MS, Clevos are also fairly abusable and easy to keep up with but I have a love affair with their desktop replacements specifically so cannot comment on thinner stuff . You could get another Aero but once you load the poor thing it does sound like a jumbo jet without disabling Turbo which is dumb in work setting. Whenever I ran chrome at stock while working on things for people at university I was helping out it was super embarrassing since the Aero started to scream for help. Same thing when it turned on. Something more turn key and stable I think is warranted as an IT laptop. You dont need 300hz panels and oleds currently use pwm dimming so saving your eyes is also a benefit since you will be staring at spaghetti code for hours at (hopefully) lower nits. Makes things easier too

 

If its being expensed, i think the detachable display on the Surface Book would be a great IT tool to have, just carry it, jot notes down with the pen, I dunno -- just seems like it has more space for activities.

 

@Kittys
could you please elaborate on: "You dont need 300hz panels and oleds currently use pwm dimming so saving your eyes is also a benefit since you will be staring at spaghetti code for hours at (hopefully) lower nits"

Also with 4K workspaces wrt to the Surface Book 3 , are you referring to the screen resolution.

You have given me a lot to think about.

I like your thinking however, I have terrible wrting so tend to type things . Yes it is expensed .

 

@Kittys I've stared a new thread to cover the possible new laptop . I wecome your insight .

 

@Kittys , WIFI card in he Aero 15 CF-1 now replaced with the AC 9260 and I've updated Win 10's driver support with latest intel and Bluetooth drivers as you suggested. . The only casualies seems to be that I have knocked out both the led panel on the right hand side of the laptop and also the HDMI connector. Will have to recheck both to see what the issues are. As for the wifi, the laptop has connected immedialy after 2 reboots. - no nore toggling on and off just to get a connection.

By coincidence my older Gigabtye P35 laptop which I think is using a Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 card is having WIFI issues, so I guess I will need to replace that as well.I wonder if I can use the AC 9260.

 

@Kittys

By a strange coincidence , I have a Gigabyte P35W which also has WIFI card issues. I think this needs a replacement AC7200 WIFI card but happy to hear any suggested alternatives.


The Dell XPS 15 is a stunning piece of kit . I am still getting used to the small profile keyboard although as you have previoulsy meantioned, iit s very comfortable to type on.

Love the battery life too - I am getting around 4 hours but I regularly have 3 instances of VSCode + Windows Terrminal + MS Teams + Office desktop apps + multiple Edge Chromium profiles.. I guess I need to downsize!